14 October 2015

A Feast at Frankie & Benny's

It's always lovely to have a meal out instead of an evening at the oven so I was more than happy to accept an offer to dine at Frankie & Benny's recently. It had been a while since we had been (almost a year) and I was eager to taste test the new menu, with the Mr and my parents in tow, on a rare child free evening.

American New York Potato Dippers

It was very busy upon arrival, which is generally a sign of a quality restaurant, and when we were seated we were told there may be a delay with our food. I felt this honesty was really professional and the server (Colin) was fantastic at ensuring we were happy and had drinks topped up at all times. We didn't even mind the wait, which was actually small, as we had a good chat about our exciting upcoming holidays anyway.

Cheese and Garlic Mushrooms

For starters my mum and I, we love our carbs, ordered the American New York Potato Dippers, my dad ordered the spicier Italian version of the same which contains salsa and chilli flakes, and the Mr had the Garlic and Cheese Mushrooms (his favourite). The portion sizes were generous, it was hot and fresh and the flavour was superb. There was plenty of bacon, BBQ sauce and chives on mine and I would certainly recommend it. The potatoes themselves were lovely and crisp on the outside and soft in the centre - perfect. I also like how they were presented in metal tins as it was quite unusual.

The quality certainly didn't slip because they were busy and I was pleased by this.

For main course we all opted for pasta dishes, bar my dad, with a side salad and garlic bread to share. My Rigatoni Chicken Piccante was meant to come in a mushroom and white wine sauce but they amended this without a problem to a cheese version to suit my taste. I really appreciated their effort to please and they also altered My dad's calzone, which I recommend from a previous visit, as he asked for a spicier filling.

Everyone agreed that the food was great and we discussed another visit before our dessert had even arrived. The Mr and I decided to satisfy our sweet teeth with Chocolate Brownie Sundaes and they really hit the spot. The vanilla ice cream was silky smooth and the brownies were warm and gooey. It was so delicious but the size defeated so the Mr happily finished mine off too while my parents enjoyed coffees.

We love Frankie and bennys and visit often as a family although we have not been for a few months as I am on a diet. The new menu looks and sounds great , your starter looks delicious! I can't wait to visit next week for my daughters birthday xx